The Hall of Fame forward often associated with his Philadelphia years has been the most prominent critic of the Sixers off-season strategies — ripping apart the roster go get bad and particularly GM Sam Hinkie taking a long time to hire Brett Brown as coach (remember the Sixers selected him long after the draft).

And also, I had a problem with—if I’m a coach I would want to have some say in the draft, I would want to have some say in the draft. These are all Sam Hinkle’s people who they drafted this year. He traded one of the better point guards in the NBA, yeah I have a problem with the way the Sixers are running their organization right now. Listen, Howard, you know I don’t believe in that analytical crap. If LeBron James couldn’t spell cat, I want him on my team. I always tell people, give me a dumb guy that can really play. Don’t give me no smart guy.

Is Hinkie taking a big risk? You bet. Especially since he’s one of a number of teams looking to be bad this year going into a deep draft.

But this was a better play then being a 41-41 team that in this cap era where they really couldn’t get guys through free agency. The Sixers were on the mediocrity treadmill and this was the best path off it.

What does analytics tell you? First, that you really need a couple elite stars to win a title. No, you don’t need analytics to know that but notice the analytics teams are going after those players. They get what they have to do to build a contender, including the guys in Philly. The Sixers had a No. 2 guy in Jrue Holiday and no means of getting one of those elite players — now they should get someone of real quality in the next draft. And they got Nerlens Noel (a good risk, let’s see how he plays in three years before we judge him). And they will have future drafts and cap room to add quality players around what stars they get and to grow a team (and that’s what analytics is really about — finding players who fit the system you install, guys who have value in their role and will fill holes with your team at a fair price).

This could blow up. Maybe the Sixers are better than we think or maybe the lottery gods are unkind to them and they don’t get a high pick. Maybe the guy they draft and think is elite doesn’t pan out that way. Maybe injuries. Maybe a whole lot of things.

But despite the short-term pain, this is better than being in a rut of mediocrity in the NBA, which is where the Sixers were headed.

Barkley continues to show his ignorance. The 76ers got rid of a PG that wasn’t actually all that productive and they got a promising young big man in return. If Noel plays like his college numbers suggest he will, then I’m sure Barkley will say the 76ers just went out and got a good basketball player, completely ignoring the fact he’s contradicting himself. He sounds like a fool here.

How productive was Holiday supposed to be when nobody on that team could make a shot and their other marquee player never suited up? The Sixers traded a known quantity for an unknown. If you think Holiday wasnt productive, what do you think the Sixers are going to get from Carter-Williams who is only a year younger than Holiday and light years behind him in terms of development?

Noel was never a slam dunk, even before his injury. He’s closer to Hasheem Thabeet than Anthony Davis in terms of upside. The Sixers plan for rebuilding is contingent upon Carter-Williams and Noel, two guys who had huge question marks, being as good as advertised; the Sixers being bad enough to get a top 3 pick and that pick living up to their billing. That’s a lot of ifs.

Barkley is also right to rip analytics. For all the love the Rockets seem to have for advanced statistics, their acquisitions of Harden and Howard had little to do with that. I understand what the Sixers and Hinkie are trying to do, but certain people should stop acting like Hinkie has some great strategy when the only team its worked for in the last several years is the Thunder.

Barkley always has something negative to say. He’s really annoying. Maybe his fat a$$ should worry about his herrendous golf swing instead of ripping his former team…the team that he opted not to go into the Hall of Fame as a member of. F U Barkley

For all the spouting off about analytics, and how the old school types just don’t get it, everyone just needs to step back and actually assess the results. It’s great that the top NBA teams are incorporating it into their offensive schemes, but none of that would matter if Lebron, Duncan, Parker, etc. weren’t on those teams. For me, the bottom line is that analytics can improve your team’s performance on the margin, but there simply is no substitute for have better players and coaches than the other teams.

I’m a Rockets fan, and I’ve watched the analytics guru operate in mediocrity here for years (the early ones are not on him). And yet, if OKC had decided to to keep Harden another year, who knows where he (and subsequently, Howard), would have ended up next year. If you want to give credit for having enough assets on hand to satisfy OKC in the trade, that’s fine. But if OKC hadn’t been afraid of the luxury tax and/or had focused on keeping Harden rather than Ibaka or Perkins, that trade never happens.

Barkley’s point will be a valid one until some team leaning heavily on analytics wins a title without a top 5 or 10 player. I know Detroit did it, but I don’t remember hearing anything about analytics during that run. Sorry.

Why is Charles upset on behalf of Brett Brown? Brett knew when he signed the contract how the draft went, if he’s OK with it, why must Charles take exception? Also, the Brett Brown rumors were swirling on draft night, so is it possible they had input from Brown and there were reasons why the hiring couldn’t be finalized until later?

Charles Barkley knows a lot more about the NBA and the game of basketball than you’ll ever know, Kurt Helin. You’ve talked about how the 76ers have picked up someone named “Royce Young” and that Nene plays small forward in recent weeks, just to name a few of your many factual blunders.

“ripping apart the roster go get bad” – What does that even mean? You can barely even form basic sentences.

Will somebody please shut this drunken has been up. As far as i’m concerned he’ll NEVER be one of the Sixer Greats. He could’nt bring a championship to Philly and he could’nt get one for the Suns. So who really give a crap what he says….I’m sure Phill brass and players are having them selves a good laugh at his drunken ass.

The head coach’s job is to….. *gasp… COACH. If Barkley is a head coach and has a say in the draft and personnel decisions then his team is probably setting the record for losses and moving to Seattle. Charles is entertaining as hell on TNT but the day an NBA team gives him a front office job is the day they permanently lose all respect and chances at a playoff seed.

I don’t agree with Charles but I don’t totally disagree either. A coach should have some say not final say. I don’t mind the wait on a coach either. I think there were other ways to tank and keep Holiday. Kid is what 22-23? Maybe move Thad and Turner, Hawes and Turner, anything where they could have kept Holiday. I’m not solid on Noel at all. He is very skinny. Yeah he will fill out but how much? I think he needs at least 25 lbs, and does that cost him his athletic ability? And the pick back from the Pelicans might not even be lotto bound. Not saying they can compete to win a title, but they have talent. Sixers front office has been so bad for so long anything different is almost welcomed in my eyes. I still think they missed bad drafting Turner at number 2 overall, Cousins or Favors with Holiday and Thad is a nice young core. They hit at that pick and there is hope in South Philly. Now we have to suck and then get lucky in the lotto.